The “invisible” ministers in the Ciolacu government. “This is what happens to politicians who run after the audience at any cost”

The last barometer of the ministers’ visibility places some at the top, such as Marcel Ciolacu or Marcel Boloș, and others at the bottom of the ranking, such as Florin Barbu or Simona Bucura-Oprescu. In any case, these results are not automatically associated with success in public communication, says Remus Pricopie, rector of SNSPA.

“It is wrong to think that a ‘leading’ place in this ranking is automatically associated with ‘success in public communication’. Strategic communication means to communicate effectively, clearly, to the point, when necessary, it does not mean to participate in the “public noise” and that’s it,” says the rector.

The analysis monitors the press appearances of ministers, and often the scandals that shake the political scene are the triggers for these appearances.

The Rector of SNSPA (National School of Political and Administrative Studies) is of the opinion that being in the middle of a scandal is not a desirable thing that the members of the Government should pursue.

“It is a tool that we also use, at SNSPA, for didactic purposes, but which is often misinterpreted in the public space. The ‘ranking’ usually means public visibility associated with the government agenda, but also with blunt, conflicting topics, which obviously have an audience”, explains Remus Pricopie.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, occupy the first places in the top of the visibility of the members of the Government for the month of February, reveals the Barometer of the visibility of ministers, analysis carried out by News.ro and the Klarmedia monitoring agency.

The Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, reaches from the 4th place in January to the second place, with over 3,800 mentions, the visibility in the print and online press being given by the simple motion of the USR and the Right Force against him, but also by the statement regarding ” the militarization of ANAF inspectors”. Sorin Grindeanu takes third place considering the interest in infrastructure in Romania, especially in an election year.

“Many ministers, before being changed, were high in this ‘ranking’. The explanation: they were in the middle of public scandals. Today Piedone adopts this noisy, inconsistent style of communication, and my prediction is not at all optimistic about his success on June 9th.

Also, George Simion has been the ‘most visible’ Romanian politician for about a year, and throughout this period of time his scores, and those of AUR in the polls, are constantly decreasing, more precisely, from August 2023 until today. In conclusion, “success” in communication does not mean a simple indicator – ‘visibility’ – which today we measure online with the help of an IT tool, but the ability to be effective in relation to political or institutional objectives”, argues Remus Pricopie.

Crises that belong to the moments of maximum interest

Moments when a scandal is revealed at an educational institution or a hospital are not accompanied by press conferences at the ministry level. Instead, increases in fees and taxes, or decisions made by Government Emergency Ordinance, are announced by the Prime Minister.

“Here is another topic: all public institutions have the obligation to communicate on any topic of public interest. There is also a law to this effect. How they do it: directly, at the level of head of institution, press office, spokespersons, etc., it depends on everyone’s strategy. We should do a one-year academic course to understand how it would be best, for one institution or another”, Remus Pricopie also specified.

During the pandemic, there were the most intense discussions about the communication of the measures that the Government was going to take. The assumption was made at the level of the prime minister, but regarding some irregularities, communication was used in stages. Or a report made by state institutions can take even more than a year to complete.

“There are some politicians who communicate – simply – without considering a specific strategy.

There are others who are more cautious, or have no particular appetite for public communication.

I repeat, it depends on the institution, the political figure, etc., but to confuse ‘visibility’ with ‘success’ is like saying that only those with the highest blood pressure have the best health indicators. Which is obviously totally wrong. At some point, you have a heart attack. That’s what happens to politicians who desperately run after the ‘audience’ at any cost”, says Remus Pricopie.

Paradoxes in the barometer of ministers

Simona Bucura-Oprescu ranks eighth in the ranking of mentions in the press, with an increase, given that in the previous ranking she ranked 11th.

Ligia Deca, the Minister of Education, had between 1,000 and 2,000 mentions in print and online, which places her at the bottom of the ranking, despite the fact that there were important events such as national simulations or debates on the use of drugs in schools.

Also, entering the Schengen Area, even just by air or sea, should have brought Cătălin Predoiu, the Minister of Internal Affairs, to the fore. At this level, the communication was rather carried out at the level of the Prime Minister and leaders of the Governing Coalition.

Eight Cabinet ministers have between 1,000 and 2,000 mentions in the print and online press, which is opened, in descending order of the number of mentions in the print and online press, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu, who moves up from 12th place, the Minister of Defense , Angel Tîlvăr, the Minister of the Environment, Mircea Fechet, who is followed by the Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, who continues to drop in the top, from the 7th place in January, by the Minister of Digitalization, Bogdan Ivan, by the Minister of Culture, Raluca Turcan, by the Minister of the European Funds, Adrian Câciu, the last in this category being the Minister of the Interior, Cătălin Predoiu, who also continues his descent, given that in January he was in 8th place in the visibility top.

In February, four members of the Ciolacu Cabinet – the Minister of Economy, Radu Oprea, the Minister of Development, Adrian Veştea, the Minister of the Family, Natalia Intotero, are in the category of those with less than 1,000 mentions.